Psalm 69:16-17
Answer my prayers, O LORD, for your unfailing love is wonderful. Take care of me, for your mercy is so plentiful. Don’t hide from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in deep trouble! Waiting is never easy. Whether it is for a phone call, a parcel or medical results, waiting can be exhausting. If life is going really badly, waiting is even more agonising. That’s exactly how we find King David in this psalm. Things are going disastrously for him. He begins by saying that the floodwaters are up to his neck. He feels that he is sinking deeper and deeper into the mire and he can’t find a foothold. We’ve all had times like that, and it isn’t pleasant. David clearly felt overwhelmed and disorientated and, in his despair, he cried out to God. In his long life, David had learned to be completely honest with God, and this is one of many psalms in which he held nothing back. He is absolutely exhausted, and he gives a graphic account of his condition. He says that his eyes are swollen with weeping and that the people who hate him without cause are more than the hairs on his head. This is all very distressing and our hearts go out to him but, amid it all, he is confident that God is listening to him. Later in the psalm, he praises God that he hears the cries of the needy and will save his people. He had no doubt that God would reach out and bless him, however tough things were. It would be pointless to pretend that waiting is easy, but when we know the nature of God, we can wait with confidence. Our waiting is still very demanding but, when we know he will definitely respond to our prayers, our times of waiting become opportunities for our faith to grow.
Question When have you ever been blessed by having to wait?
Prayer Lord, give me patience and strength when I have to wait. Help me to use the times of waiting to strengthen my relationship with you. Amen